Victory in a tournament is the most frequent dedication of a knight to a lady of the heart. In addition to her, military campaigns, serenades, recitation of poetry and even religious vows were also practiced.
Longing for knightly times, women actually have very vague ideas about who a lady of the heart is and in what specific actions the devotion of the knights was expressed. For some reason, there was a misconception that a wife should be a lady of the heart, but dynastic marriages rarely assumed the love of spouses, so any attractive woman could count on the title of a romantic beloved, and the more inaccessible she was, the more enthusiasm aroused in fans. If we consider that the knights were warriors, then initiations have always been closely associated with military affairs.
Warmongering feats for a beautiful lady
Winning a tournament is one of the most common initiations, which, at the same time, did not run counter to the goals of the knight himself. The title of the winner of the tournament was already quite honorable, but if it was dedicated to a beautiful lady, then the glory of the winner's glory fell on all those involved. Interestingly, the dedication of victory to the lady of the heart was often declared before the tournament, thus the knight motivated himself not to lose. A peculiar psychological technique worked well, because the knight believed that defeat would not only cover him with shame, but also harm the lady of the heart.
In fact, even the defeat turned out to be not so humiliating, because the lady of the heart will certainly fall under the impression when she finds out what severe wounds her devoted knight received in order to glorify her name.
However, if the victory in the tournament was more related to a kind of competition, then participation in the war implied more serious costs and dangers. There are cases when a lady of the heart, encouraging her knight, supported his campaign financially. For the landless knights, the younger sons of the nobility, this was sometimes the only way to acquire decent equipment.
Spiritual wealth
Not all knights were generously endowed by nature and could boast of invincibility, but a woman can be impressed in other ways. In honor of the lady of the heart, poems, odes, sonnets and madrigals were composed, which could be recited, throwing women's hearts into awe.
The most gifted were precisely the younger sons of the nobles, they could not count on an inheritance, so they honed skills that could bring certain benefits. If the knight had an ear for music and a pleasant voice, then he could well devote hearts and serenades to the lady, but in the absence of talents, efforts were fully counted.
Interestingly, even religious vows could be dedicated to a lady of the heart. Fasting a record amount of time or walking around shrines - why not? The main thing is for her to find out, and for this the knights spared no expense and time.
To impress a lady of the heart is a quite worthy goal for a knight, and wealth and glory will follow!
